


Welcome to Derry

by oliverakki



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 07:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13185114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oliverakki/pseuds/oliverakki
Summary: Spending their summer in the small town of Derry, Maine isn't' the ideal way to spend their vacation, according to Ethan and Jason. However, it's soon revealed that something sinister is lurking just below the surface of Derry, hiding in the underground tunnels.





	Welcome to Derry

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work, and this is based on a nightmare I had a few nights ago. I remember it pretty vividly, so I thought it might be interesting to make a fic based on it.  
> There is some swearing, and if anyone would like me to, I'll change the fic's rating.  
> Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoy the first part of it. Comments are encouraged, and feedback is requested!

The landscape passed in a blur as the car sped through the countryside, spread out trees and fields both barren and cultivated rushing past. Summertime music flowed from the dashboard’s radio, filling the silent car with what was supposed to be a comfortable, stress-free atmosphere. However, it did nothing to ease the anxiety that was radiating from the back seat, the car’s two youngest passengers feeling anything but at ease. 

Two boys, aged 12 and 17, sat in the back seat of the car with a decent space between them, each gazing out of their respected window. The oldest boy, a tired looking young man with rather sunken eyes and messy brown hair, would occasionally glance down at his cellphone as if to attempt to entertain himself, only to return his gaze to the passing landscape. His brother, a short and ill-tempered teenager soon-to-be, was occupying himself either with his handheld game console or, like his older brother, watching the clouds pass slowly from the car.

The two boys were on their way to spend the summer with their aunt and uncle in Derry, Maine. It was not that they didn’t love their aunt and uncle, they really did. It was the town that made them nervous. They have never visited it, and yet felt an uneasy feeling each time the town was mentioned by their parents, despite them insisting that it was beautiful and rich in American History. 

The two boys were brought out of their thoughts as the man driving, their father, turned down the radio and glanced at them from the rear-view mirror. “Are you boys excited?” He smiled as he returned his eyes to the road. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to visit Derry, I’m sure you’ll both love it. It’s a pretty historical town, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about it being boring,” he insisted. “Your aunt and uncle are really excited to see you, too.” 

The younger boy let out a hot breath through his nose, going back to the window. If anything, he was looking forward even less to this trip than his brother. “Ethan,” their father started again, causing the oldest boy to look up and at the driver’s seat in front of him. “I don’t want you and James going off anywhere without each other. It’s not that big of a town, but you can never be too careful of what’s out there.” 

Ethan simply nodded. That ended the conversation, and soon enough the radio was turned back off and the sound of honeyed voices singing about life and love wove its way back through the car. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ethan, James!” 

A rather pudgy woman ran out of her house as soon as the trio pulled into her narrow driveway. The two boys recognized it as their aunt Patty. Her pointed glasses, rosy cheeks and warm smile made Ethan realize just how much he missed her.

The two boys accepted the hugs from their aunt, listening to her gush about how much they’ve changed and grown since the last time they saw each other. “Ethan, look at you! You’ll be as tall as your uncle someday soon! And you, James, you’re the spitting image of your father!”

The house’s door opened once more and a tall, skinny older man stepped out. Ethan and James’ father broke into a grin as he went to greet his older brother, the two of them exchanging words that simply expressed “long time, no see” before embracing each other in what could only be described as a brotherly hug.

While the reunion was nice for everyone, it didn’t appear like it was going to last. “I still have quite a bit of driving to do, I don’t want to get stuck in late afternoon traffic,” was the boy’s father’s reply when his sister-in-law all but demanded that he stay for dinner. And with that, the two young men gave their father one last goodbye, promising to see him near the end of August.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Down the hall from here is the bathroom- Watch your step here, boys! This board is a little iffy…” Aunt Patty carefully stepped over a board raised slightly larger than the rest before continuing with the house tour, Ethan and James following her lead. 

She was currently showing the two boys around her house, helping them out by showing them where the bathrooms were and where their room was while also telling them about Derry. “It’s such a beautiful little town,” she started as she continued down the hall with them, taking her time. “I really hope you boys enjoy yourself here.”

She stopped walking when they reached a door near the end of the hallway. “This is the room you two boys will be staying in. It was rather dusty, but we tried to clean it up before you came,” she said as she opened the door to allow the boys to step in.

Ethan looked around as he walked into the medium-sized room, wheeling in his suitcase after him. It was simple enough, two freshly made twin beds and two dressers, one for each boy. There were framed photos of scenery and what looked like parts of the town hanging on the wall. There was also a bookshelf filled with what looked like books one would read in middle school. Ethan could see the spines of some of the volumes of The Hardy Boys and A Series of Unfortunate Events, as well as a bunch he didn’t recognize. Overall, it was peaceful, and they weren’t that far out of time. It didn’t seem that it would be that bad of a summer. 

If only he could figure out why this town made him so damn uneasy.

Their aunt soon left them to get settled in, and James threw his suitcase onto the bed closest to the door. “This is bullshit,” he grumbled. He always had a rather… mature way of speaking for his age. “I don’t see why we couldn’t have gone to Massachusetts with dad.” 

Ethan sighed. They’ve talked about this almost every day since the trip was announced. “I told you, we were invited up to stay for the summer, and that’s it. We haven’t seen them in years, one summer won’t kill you,” he said to his younger brother as he started taking clothes out of his suitcase, putting them into the small dresser next to his bed. “It might not be as bad as you think,” he added when he noticed that James still had a sour look on his face. 

“Yeah, but it also might be as bad as I think. We’ve only been here for less than half an hour.” 

“Exactly, which is why you shouldn’t jump to conclusions that quickly.”

James didn’t say anything after that, just kicked off his shoes and threw his body onto the bed. Ethan, however, kept his shoes on. “I was thinking we could go an explore the town. It’s still only 5, we should have a while before the sun actually goes down.” 

“Pass,” James grumbled. “I don’t really care about exploring this down. It’s kind of creepy.” 

Ethan didn’t know what to say to that. He felt the same way, though he didn’t really have a reason to feel like that. It just felt like he had eyes constantly on him, even now. It was as if the books on the opposite wall all had eyes, all peering at him and watching his every move. He felt it from everywhere, and now that he was thinking about it, he actually noticed it.

“Well, maybe it won’t be as creepy once we actually get to know it.” He suggested. James just groaned, but sat up, starting to reach down for his shoes. Ethan won. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Five minutes later, they were in the kitchen explaining to their aunt that they wanted to explore around town before sunset. “Well, okay… Just be sure to be back by dinner. And don’t go running off into the Barrens.” She said, leaving the two boys confused. “Barrens?” James asked her. She nodded. “It’s a weedy, filthy area that leads out of town. It’s dangerous down there, animals have been known to crawl out of the sewer pipes that are down there and attack children. There have been more than a few casual incidents.”  
Both of the boys were shocked at that, but promised her that they’d both be back before the sun went down and by the time that their aunt finished dinner. Just in case, Ethan gave Aunt Patty his cellphone number, and then the two of them were on their way. 

As they walked along the side of the road into the heart of the town, the two of them didn’t say anything to each other. Usually they got along well, always joking and talking about whatever was on their minds, but something seemed to be different today. Finally, James was the one to break the silence.

“What do you think Aunt Patty meant when she said that there have been more than a few casual incidents in the Barrens?” He asked. Ethan just shrugged, looking down to watch his shadow follow him. “I don’t know. Maybe she just meant that there were a lot of attacks. I don’t think it would be anything worse.” He stopped walking as he finished, having come to a stoplight. 

As they waited for the light to turn red so that they could take their turn walking across the street, Ethan looked around at their surroundings. It was then that he noticed how covered the large wooden electricity pole next to him was. When he looked closer, he could see that it was covered in stables that never got removed, as well as a handful of ‘Missing’ posters. As he studied them further, he noticed that all of the victims were under the age of 18, and they all disappeared this year. Was this what Aunt Patty meant when she said ‘there have been more than a few casual incidents’?

He was about to point it out to James, but his little brother had started to walk across the street now, and he had no choice but to follow. He’d just show him on the way back to the house. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Derry didn’t really have a ton to offer. There were a few stores and restaurants, a rather large park and a rather old looking bridge with names and hearts hastily carved in. Carved in large letters on one of the boards is ‘the kissing bridge’, so Ethan guessed that that was what the locals called it.

It didn’t take long for them to decide to turn back around and go back to the house. Before they left the kissing bridge, Ethan and James looked over the side in what looked like a valley with a stream running through it, though it didn’t look very clean. They decided that this must be the Barrens, and now they knew what to stay away from.

Ethan had seen a few more missing posters as they walked through the town. He’s never seen this many in one place, especially not in a place as small as Derry Maine. However, every time he made as if to point them out to James, James had just kept walking or cut him off. 

It wasn’t until they returned to the same red light near their aunt’s home that Ethan was able to point out the posters from earlier to James. However, he noticed that…

The posters were all gone.

Sure, there were the staples. But even though it was covered in posters not even an hour ago, it was completely bare, except…

No, he was wrong. There were two posters, stapled where dozens, perhaps hundreds more were stapled as well. Ethan glanced at his little brother and noticed that he was staring at it too, and neither of them seemed to be in a hurry to cross the street now. They were too far away to see what the posters said, but something was definitely off. Something was wrong.

When the light turned red, Ethan felt like he was walking through quicksand and soon found himself face to face with his own face. His face with his tired eyes and messy hair. His face that was under giant printed letters spelling **‘MISSING’**. His face that was above smaller printed letters, the text _‘last seen June 13th, 2017’_ staring back at him. 

The night suddenly seemed too quiet. He initially heard a sharp intake of breath and a soft “Fuck…” as James saw what Ethan could only assume was the second poster. The birds had stopped chirping, all of the cars were gone and the wind had stopped blowing. There wasn’t a single sound, other than his brother’s shallow breathing.

It was terrifying.

The two of them didn’t need to tell each other to leave, to run. They ran away from the light, away from the posters and back towards their aunt’s. Ethan couldn’t remember the last time he ran like this, couldn’t remember the last time his legs pumped this fast to drive him away. It felt like he was being chased, but he didn’t know why, or what he was being chased by.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

They were both out of breath by the time they made it back. The fear had run off, and both brothers silently agreed that it was just a trick. An extremely cruel, elaborate trick, but a trick nonetheless. 

They were greeted with the smell of dinner as they pushed past the door, the house the same as it was when they left. Their aunt began to fuss about how they were almost late and how they’d better watch the time better next time before allowing them to take their seats at the table and dishing out food. 

As the boys ate, the last hour seemed more and more like a bad dream. To Ethan, it was actually a pretty impressive prank. He’d just like to know who did it so he could tell them off for almost making him shit his pants. 

After dinner they took turns showering, and after a little while they were both in their room on their own beds, Ethan telling his friends about the encounter with the posters and James back on his game. Neither of them said anything, and they haven’t actually said much to each other since they came home. Ethan guessed that James just didn’t want to talk about what he saw, and Ethan was fine with that. 

Before too long James shut off the game and laid down, turning to his side. Ethan guessed that it was time to turn off the light, and as he stood up and made his way over to the other side of the room, he felt those eyes watching him again. They were watching him from all angles, and he tried desperately to shake the feeling. 

He quickly turned off the light switch, leaving only the lamp that was on the table between both of their beds. As Ethan turned around to return to the comfort and eye-free environment of the bed, he saw something that made his blood run with curiosity, confusion, and most of all, fear.

Tied around the bedpost with a thin white ribbon was a big, bright red balloon, the color a stark contrast to the rest of the room even with the lamp being the only source of light. It stayed perfectly still as though it were plastic, and on the surface of it, written in taut black letters-

 

**W E L C O M E T O D E R R Y**


End file.
